JOANNE MURDER SUSPECT OUT OF HOSPITAL
Ex in wheelchair after jump from window
KEITH Lee – the chief suspect in the murder of his estranged wife Joanne – is out of hospital, we can reveal. Our pictures show the former chef smoking outside St James’s yesterday before being discharged after treatment for two broken legs.
A source said: “He would move around in a wheelchair with a garda with him and would freely chat. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.” Lee, who jumped from a window of the Dublin flat where his ex’s body was found in a wardrobe last month, received visits from his US girlfriend in hospital.
HERE are the first photographs of Keith Lee – the chief suspect in the murder of his estranged wife Joanne.
The 38-year-old’s strangled body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag inside a wardrobe in the bedsit where Lee was living.
Our exclusive pictures show the one-time hotel chef having a cigarette outside St James’s Hospital in Dublin yesterday.
A short time later he was discharged after being treated for injuries he sustained when he leapt from the third-floor window of the property on Ranelagh Road in South Dublin, as gardai knocked on the door of his apartment.
When officers burst into the room, Lee jumped through a window having attempted to initially kill himself by slashing his wrists. He fractured both his legs.
A brave garda wrapped his own shirt around his wounds to stem the bleeding and Lee was taken to hospital as the murder probe began.
A source said: “He received regular visits from his American girlfriend and was always watched over by uniform gardai.
“He had been in a private room but was then moved to a public ward where an elderly patient recognised him and confronted him.
“He would move around in a wheelchair with a garda with him and would freely chat. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. He would go out regularly and smoke a cigarette and then return indoors.”
It is understood Lee was in a 31-bed orthopaedic ward which deals with accident injuries and where surgery is carried out on complex upper limb work, haemophilia cases and sports injuries.
Supt Gerry Delmar, from Donnybrook Garda station, said last month: “At the rear of the premises, gardai found a male with injuries consistent with having fallen from a height.
“That male is currently in hospital receiving treatment for these injuries.
“The man, we believe, is her estranged husband. We are obviously aware that they were estranged.” Supt Delmar added that officers will be talking to Lee when he leaves hospital.
He added: “Whenever he is released we will be speaking to him. He is currently being treated in hospital.”
After their relationship ended Joanne had moved back in with her parents in Garristown, Co Dublin. Known to her pals as Jo Jo, she was laid to rest near her home.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at her funeral at St Cianan’s Church in Duleek, Co Meath, on February 24.
Her parents Dermot and Catherine, as well as her brothers and sisters, were among the congregation.
Fr John Conlon said: “As I look at her brothers and sisters, you shouldn’t have to do this.
“There shouldn’t be a casket in the church today. This family should not be here.
“Actions such as this solve nothing, they only increase pain. “But Catherine and Dermot were very anxious this gathering that we have in the church today, would not be a commemoration of the last hours of Joanne’s life but rather it would serve as a
He received regular visits from his girlfriend and was watched by gardai
SOURCE DUBLIN YESTERDAY
celebration of all her life.” The church also heard how much she loved her family and her love for her pet dog Ziggy.
Two white horses with pink feathers in their mane pulled the carriage with Joanne’s remains to nearby Crossmacole Cemetery following the service.
The Garda probe did not stall while Lee was receiving medical care.
Officers interviewed people who were close to the pair, examined mobile phones and are waiting to view hours of CCTV footage to establish Joanne’s movements.
Speaking at the scene on the night Joanne’s body was found, her uncle John Curry wept as he said her death has “torn the soul out of us”.
He added: “She was a lovely girl, she was a beautiful girl. She was never any trouble.
“Oh God, we are so upset. We are just all devastated, the whole family.
“This has torn the soul out of us. I just don’t know what came out of this at all.”
Lee had previous contact with gardai who were investigating the discovery of an €11,000 drug haul last year.
He was never charged with an offence and has no previous convictions.